The Freedom of the Future

Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Nicholas Grimshaw, Michael Hopkins and Terry Farrell were born within six years of each other in the 1930s. Shaped by the optimism of the post-war years and the sixties counterculture, these pillars of today's establishment began their careers as outsiders and radicals. The first episode in this series includes glimpses of some of their recent work, such as London's new 'Cheese grater' skyscraper, Spaceport America and the KK100 skyscraper in China before looking in detail at revolutionary projects from the 1960s and 70s. Rogers and his collaborators tell the story of the Pompidou Center in Paris. Other early projects featured include Norman Foster's glassy Willis Faber & Dumas Headquarters in Ipswich, Farrell & Grimshaw's corrugated aluminum tower block next to Regent's Park in London and the industrial-style Hopkins House in Hampstead.